Process for producing soap having a definite water content



N 6. w v. w y E 7 mm N M r C T 2 E M T A A B. CLAYTON PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SOAP HAVING A DEFINITE WATER CONTENT Flld June 16, 1954 April 14, 1936.

Patented Apr. 1 936 raoonss FOB raonocmc soar HAVING a DEFINITE wnrnnoou'rm Benjamin cumin, sum, Tex asaignor to Refining, Inc., Reno, New, a corporation 01.

Application June 16, 1934, Serial No. 730,911

8 Claims. (CL 87-16) My invention relates to the manufacture of soap and an object of the invention isto provide a process of and apparatus by which soap may be produced directly in a continuous process from raw material.

A iurther object of the invention is to provide a process of and apparatus'for producing soap continuously in which the soap is produced in solid form of any suitable shape.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for and process of producing soap in which the moisture content of the soap produced can be accurately regulated within any desired limits. )5 Further objects and advantages will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing, which is purely diagrammatic, I is a mixing apparatus, 2 is a heater, 3 is a separating chamber, 4 is in an extrusion 2 pump, 5 is a boiler, 6 is a cooler and extruder, I is a water injection pump, 6 is a glycerine condenser, and 6 is a water condenser oi. the jet type. The mixing apparatus consists of an alkali pump II and a fat pump |2, the pump |2 being 25 driven by a suitable motor l3 and the pump being driven through a speed changing gear I from the pump |2. The fat which it is desired to convert into soap is taken from a fat tank I 6 and pumped into a mixer I! by the pump I2. An 30 alkali tank |8 contains an aqueous solution of a saponifying alkali such, for example, as caustic soda in water, the pump taking the aqueous alkali solution or reagent from the tank l8 and pumping it into the mixer H. The mixed fat and reagent pass through a pipe I 9 to a coil 2| of the heater 2.

The heater 2 consists of an outer shell 23 in l which a coil 2| is placed, and a burner 24 supplied with fuel through a fuel valve 25. Gas or oil may be used as fuel, this fuel being ignited at the burner and the hot products of combustion passing upwardly inside the shell 23 and supplying heat to the coil 2|. In the coil 2| a reaction takes place between the reagent and the fat, soap, glycerine and water vapors, hereinafter termed the reaction products", being delivered through a pipe 26, having a pressure gauge 21 and a thermometer 28 therein, to a nozzle 3| in the separating chamber 3. 50 The separating chamber 3 consists of a tight shell 32 inside which the nozzle 8| is carried. The nozzle consists of a metal member having a constricted oriflcethrough which the reaction products must pass. The soap pump 4 is preferably a gear or screw pump capable of handling the hot soap precipitated in the chamber 32. This pump is driven by a motor 4| and delivers the hot soap to a pipe 42. The boiler 5 may be of any convenient type, that shown consisting of a shell 5| in which is placed a pipe coil 52. The water in the pipe coil 52 is heated by the products of combustion from a burner 53 supplied with gas through a fuel valve 54. Steam is delivered from the boiler 5 through a pipe 55, having a thermometer 56 and a pressure gauge 51 therein, to the pipe 42.

While different forms of cooler 6 may be vemployed, it is desirable that one be used which tends to uniformly mix the steam delivered by the pipe 55 with soap delivered from the pipe 42 and the form shown is well adapted to accomplish this result. is placed a coil 62 into which the mixture of soap and steam is delivered by the pipe 42. The cooled soap leaves the coil 62 through a pipe 63. Cooling water is supplied to the cooler 6 through a pipe 64, the flow being controlled by a valve .55. Hot water is delivered from the cooler 6 through a pipe 66 to a tank 61. The cooled soap is delivered through the pipe 63 to an extrusion nozzle 66, which. may have a-single or several orifices of any desired shape, the soap being ex-' truded in the form of threads or as a continuous bar 69. Devices may be incorporated in the extrusion nozzle 68 to break up the threads or bar into separate pieces of soap or the threads or bar 63 may be broken up after leaving the extrusion nozzle 66.

The water injection pump 1 may also be a screw or gear pump, being driven by a motor II, the

speed of which may be regulated to control the amount of water injected through a pipe 12 into the coil 52 of the boiler 5.

Any gas or vapor released in the separating chamber 3 is withdrawn through a pipe 34 having apressure gauge 35 and a thermometer 36 therein. The pipe 34 communicates with the bottom of the glycerine condenser 8. The glycerine condenser 8.consists of a tight shell 8| having intermediate heads 82 between which tubes 63 extend. The space between the heads 82 insidethe shell 8| and around the tubes 63 is filled with cooling water delivered through a pipe 84 having a valve REISSUED It consists ofa tight shell 6| in which 85, this cooling water being removed through a pipe 86.

Any condensate produced in the glycerine condenser 6 passes downwardly through a pipe 61 to a glycerine tank 86, the pipe 61 being about thirty feet long so that as long as the lower end of the pipe is submerged in the glycerine in the tank 66,

itispossibietomaintainahishdearee ofvacuum in the condenser 8.

Any gases or vapors which are not condensed in the glycerine condenser I pass through a pipe ll, having a thermometer l2 and a pressure gauge I! therein, to the jet condenser I. This jet condenser is supplied with cooling water from a pipe I and is provided with an air pump ll. Any water condensed in the jet condenser I is delivered through a pipe I to a water tank 01. The pipe 00 is about thirty feet long so that as long as the lower end issubmerged in the waterinthetank l1, avacuummaybemaintainedinthecondenserl ifdesired. f V v The method of operation is as follows:

The tank II is filled with the saponifiable fat which it is desired to convert into soap, this fat being warmed if necessary to a point at which it is liqilid. The tank I8 is filled with an aqueous solution of a saponifying alkali, such, for example, as a solution of caustic soda in water. The fat is pumped into the mixer I! by the pump l2 and the saponifying alkali is pumped into the mixer I! by the pump II. The variable speed gear I4 is adjusted so that the proportion of saponifying alkali supplied to the mixer I1 is only slightly in excess of that theoretically necessary to completely saponify the fat. The pumps II and I2 may be piston pumps but should be of such type that they can pump against several hundred pounds per square inch pressure. The mixture of saponifiable fat and saponifying alkali is delivered through the pipe I9 to the heater! and is heated therein by the prBducts of combustion from the burner 24.

It will be understood that the aqueous solution of a saponifying alkali is dispersed in the saponifiable material due to mixing in the mixer l1 and is maintained in dispersion during the flow of the material through the coil 2| of the heater. The reagent or aqueous solution of a saponifying alkali is in the form of fine drops, the surfaces of which are in contact with the oil. This method of producing a reaction between the reagent and the saponifiable material by providing contact between the reagent and the oil is for convenience termed contacting.

In the coil 2| a reaction takes place between the saponifying alkali andthe saponifiable fat, and soap and glycerine are formed. .Sufllcient heat is supplied to the mixture in the coil 2| to raise the temperature of the reaction products passing through the pipe 26, as indicated on the thermometer 28. e

The reaction products, that is to say,'the soap and glycerine, with all of the water content of the mixture delivered to the coil 2|, are ejected through the nozzle 3| into the separating chamber 3. The interior of the separating chamber 3 is maintained under vacuum and there is, of course, a high pressure drop as the reaction products pass through the constricted orifice of the nozzle ll.

These reaction products emerge from this constricted orifice in the form of a high velocity jet containing steam, glycerine vapor, and particles of liquid soap. The soap is thrown violently downymrd to the bottom of the chamber due to the velocity of the jet and in its pasage through the chamber the glycerine vapor and steam escape therefrom, passing upwardly and being withdrawn through the pipe 34. Sufficient heat should be supplied by the burner 24 to enable the temperature as indicated by the thermometer 36 of the vapors passing to the glycerine condenser I to-be maintainedabovethe pointofgiycerlne-at the absolute pressure in ated on the vacuum sauce It Thesoapwhichis deliveredtothebottomof the separating chamber 8 contains almost no water or glycerine. It is. however, at a sufiicientlyhightemperatm'etobeliquidanditis continuously withdrawn through the soap pump 4 and delivered to the pipe 42.

Sincethesoapdeliveredtothepumplispractically free from water, it is desirable to add water thereto to produce a commercial soap, since such soaps usually contain from 10% to 20% of water. This water content is added in the form of steam injected through the pipe ll into the flowing stream of hot soap leaving the pump 4 through the pipe 42. The pump 4 should be capable of exerting considerable pressure since it not only takes soap from the chamber, which is under a vacuum, and extrudes it against atmospheric pressure, but it must also overcome some fluid friction in the cooler i and a very considerable friction in the extrusion nozzle 68. By regulating the rate of feed of the water pump I in proportion to the rate of feed of the fat pump II, a soap of absolutely fixed and definite water content can be produced.

The mixture of steam and glycerine vapor passing through the pipe 34 into the glycerine condenser 8 is cooled in its upward passage through the tubes 83 to such a degree that substantially all of the glycerine content of these vapors is condensed, this glycerine condensate running downwardly through the pipe IT to the tank II. The steam, freed from the glycerine vapors, then passes through the pipe OI to the water condenser 9. The supply of cooling water delivered to the glycerine condenser through the pipe 84 is so regulated that the temperature of the steam passing through the pipe 9|,as indicated on the thermometer 92, is considerably below the boiling point of glycerine at the pressure indicated on the pressure gauge 93 and above the boiling point of water at that pressure.

In the jet condenser 9 the steam is condensed due to the introduction of cooling water through the pipe 04, the condensed water being delivered through the pipe 96 to the tank 91. Any air or uncondensed vapor or gas which would tend to accumulate in the jet condenser 9 is continuously withdrawn by the air pump 85.

In practice the degree of vacuum carried in the separating chamber 3 may be regulated by suitable manipulation of the condensers 8 and 0 In practice the apparatus operates continuously, the tanks l8 and I8 being replenished from time to time and the glycerine and water delivered to the tanks 91 and as being withdrawn as they accumulate. The soap 89 extruded from the pipe 6| has a definite and constant water content. The glycerine recovered, being a distillate, is in very pure form and has a high commercial value.

If desired, the temperature in the separating chamber 3 can be lowered sufliciently so that all or a portion of the glycerine is not vaporized and is can-ied over as a liquid in the soap removed 5 by the pump 4. The same effect can, of course. be obtained by increasing the absolute pressure in the separating chamber. All that is necessary to permit the glycerine to be carried over into the soap with a substantial dehydration of the soap passing to the pump 4, is to hold the temperature in the separating chamber 3 above the boiling point of water at the pressure maintained therein, but below the boiling point of glycerine under that pressure.

I claim as my invention:

1. A continuous process of producing soap directly from a saponifiable material by the reaction therewith of an aqueous solution of a saponifying reagent, and recovering the glycerine produced by the process, which comprises: contacting the materials to produce soap and glycerine; continuously passing the mixture of soap and glycerine into an evaporating chamber; continuously removing water and glycerine vapor from said chamber at a rate suiiicient to maintain a sufficient vacuum therein to vaporize substantially all the water and glycerine in said mixture; and continuously withdrawing soap from said chamberin such a manner as not to impair the vacuum maintained therein.

2. A continuous process of producing soap directly from a saponifiable material by the reaction therewith of an aqueous solution of a saponifying reagent, and recovering the glycerine produced by the process, which comprises: contacting the materials to produce soap and glycerine; continuously passing the mixture of soap and glycerine into an evaporating chamber; continuously removing water and glycerine vapor from said chamber at a rate sufficient to maintain a sufiicient vacuum therein to vaporize substantially all the Water and glycerine in said mixture; maintaining the soap at such a temperature after the glycerine and water vapor has been withdrawn therefrom that it is molten and sufiiciently liquid to be pumped; and pumping said soap out of said chamber as the soap is formed therein without impairing the vacuum maintained in said chamber.

3. A continuous process of producing soap directly from a saponifiable material by the reaction therewith of an aqueous solution of a saponifying reagent, and recovering the glycerine 7 produced by the process, which comprises: contacting the materials to produce soap and glycerine; continuously passing the mixture of soap and glycerine into an evaporating chamber; continuously removing water and glycerine vapor from said chamber at a rate suflicient to maintain a sufficient vacuum therein to vaporize substantially all the water and glycerine in said mixture; maintaining the soap at such a temperature after the glycerine and water vapor has been withdrawn therefrom that it is molten and suf- 5 ficiently liquid to be pumped; pumping said soap out of said chamber as the soap is formed therein without impairing the vacuum maintained in said chamber; cooling said soap after it has been so pumped to a temperature at which 70 it is plastic; and utilizing the pressure used for pumping the soap from said chamber to extrude the soap from a suitable orifice in the form of a solid bar.

4. A continuous process of producing soap directly from a saponifiable material by the 5 reaction therewith of an aqueous solution of a saponifying reagent, and recovering the glycerine produced by the process, which comprises: contacting the materials to produce soap and glycerine; continuously passing the mixture of 10 soap and glycerine. into an evaporating chamber; continuously removing water and glycerine vapor from said chamber at a rate sufiicient to maintain a sufiicient vacuum therein to vaporize substantially all the water and glycerine in said 15 mixture; continuously withdrawing soap from said chamber in such a manner as not to impair the vacuum maintained therein; and adding sufficient water to said soap after it has been withdrawn fromsaid chamber to give it a definite 20 water content.

5. A continuous process of producing soap directly from a saponifiable material by the reaction therewith of an aqueous solution of a saponifying reagent, and recovering the glycerine produced by the process, which comprises: contacting the materials to produce soap and glycerine; continuously passing the mixture of soap and glycerine into an evaporating chamber; continuously removing water and glycerine vapor from said chamber at a rate sufficient to maintain a sufficient vacuum therein to vaporize substantially all the water and glycerine in said mixture; maintaining th soap at such a temperature after the glycerine and water vapor has been withdrawn therefrom that it is molten and sufliciently liquid to be pumped; pumping said soap out of said chamber as the soap is formed therein without impairing the vacuum maintained in said chamber; and adding sufiicient 40 water to said soap after it has been withdrawn from said chamber to give it a definite water content.

6. A continuous process of producing soap directly from a saponifiable material by the reaction therewith of an aqueous solution of a saponifying reagent, and recovering the glycerine produced by the process, which comprises: contacting the materials to produce soap and glycerine; continuously passing the mixture of soap and glycerine into an evaporating chamber; continuously removing water and glycerine vapor from said chamber at a rate sufficient to maintain a sufiicient vacuum therein to vaporize substantially all the water and glycerine in said mixture; maintaining the soap at such atemperature after the glycerine and water vapor has been withdrawn therefrom that it is molten and sufficiently liquid to be pumped; pumping said soap out of said chamber as the soap is formed therein without impairing the vacuum maintained in said chamber; cooling said soap after it has been so pumped to a temperature at which it is plastic; adding suflicient water to said soap after it has been withdrawn from said chamber to give it a definite water content; and utilizing the pressure used for pumping the soap from said chamber to extrude the soap from a suitable orifice in the form of a solid bar.

BENJAMIN CLAYTON. 

